Have you ever felt like just storming right out of your office but not before flipping a few chairs on the way? Or, giving that super annoying co-worker a piece of your mind? If yes, you’d be happy to know that you are not alone! Workplace anger is a real issue! But unfortunately, your office may not be the best place to let your emotions take over.
The truth is, no matter how much we want to act out on our anger, it will do us more harm than good in the long run. After all, nobody wants to be tagged as the office hot head! Haina?
Besides, workplace anger can not only raise the tension in your office, but it can also lead to anxiety, high blood pressure, and other health issues. This is why it is important to learn how to control temper and manage your anger and find a constructive and healthy way to resolve your problems at work.
8 Possible Factors Why You May Experience Negative Emotions At Work
Workplaces are complex environments. You may love your job but that doesn’t mean you are never going to have those days where you just can’t stand being at the office. And while we try our best to remain calm, composed and rational, things may not always go our way. There are several reasons why we may experience emotions like anger and frustration at work. Some of the more common reasons are:
- Being passed over for promotion, raise or not getting the recognition we deserve.
- Dealing with difficult co-workers or having regular differences of opinions with other team members.
- Feeling undervalued.
- Having trouble completing work due to lack of guidance.
- Being micro-managed or criticised by the supervisor.
- Being unnecessarily dragged into office gossip.
- Office politics keep you from giving your best or getting what you deserve.
- Being assigned more work than you signed up for without any incentives.
5 Tips To Control Temper At Work
Wondering how to control temper at work? Here are a few things you can do to tackle rising anger before it overtakes you.
1. Take A Break When Anger Strikes
When you find yourself becoming overwhelmed with anger, stop what you are doing right away and just close your eyes.
When you find yourself becoming overwhelmed with anger, stop what you are doing right away and just close your eyes. Practice deep breathing exercises or count till 10. This will disrupt the strain of angry thoughts and give you time to compose yourself. You can take a little walk, listen to some music or call up a friend…whatever helps you to calm down.
2. Talk It Out
Talk it out with someone who knows the office dynamics and can help you handle the situation in a better way.
Here is another tip on how to control short temper. If you are finding it hard to handle things on your own, it may help to talk to a trusted friend or co-worker. Talk it out with someone who knows the office dynamics and can help you handle the situation in a better way. If that’s not possible, just call up a friend you trust and vent. But before you do, make sure that your friend has the time and is in the required mind space to hear you out. Try stepping out of the office for a while to get the privacy you need to have this conversation. Speaking about it to someone may also help you see the situation more clearly.
3. Write It Out
If you cannot find anyone to talk to at that moment, pour your heart out on a piece of paper or in an email draft. Again, putting your emotions into words can help you calm down and gain a fresh perspective on things. However, make sure to tear away the paper and delete the draft once you have calmed down or at least lock the document to secure your privacy.
4. Imagine Yourself When You Are Angry
This little exercise can help you gain some perspective on the situation and save you from a lot of embarrassment.
Take some time to picture yourself when you are angry…think about how you look, the way you sound and how you behave. Not a pleasant picture, right? Would you want to talk to a person like that? The answer is probably no. This little exercise can help you gain some perspective on the situation and save you from a lot of embarrassment.
5. Be Careful What You Say
Don’t dive into an argument right away. Spend some time articulating your thoughts and feelings, and find the right words to express them.
If you cannot just walk away and HAVE to confront the situation, at least be a little mindful. Don’t dive into an argument right away. Spend some time articulating your thoughts and feelings, and find the right words to express them. If you are aware of what kind of communication works best for the other person, try to speak to them like that. For instance, if they prefer straightforward language, use that. Remember, the aim is to express what you are feeling and communicate to get some results. Do not let your anger spoil that chance for you.
5 Tips To Manage Anger Effectively
If you want to learn how to control short temper and manage anger while at work, here is what you can do.
1. Recognise The Triggers
Be on the lookout for early signs of anger building up inside you. The sooner you can stop the anger, the better it’ll work for you.
We have a few emotional ‘triggers’ that may force us to get overwhelmed and lash out in anger. However, if you are aware of these triggers and recognise them in time, you can keep them from overwhelming you. This can help you manage your anger.
Be on the lookout for early signs of anger building up inside you. The sooner you can stop the anger, the better it’ll work for you. Remember, you are in control of how you react to a certain situation. While anger might be your first instinct, you don’t really have to go ahead with it.
2. Don’t Dismiss Your Emotions
Find a healthy way to disarm or release your anger. Remind yourself that what you are feeling isn’t wrong but acting on it will not do you any good.
More often than not, we respond to our rising anger by ‘intellectualising’ it instead of just accepting it. To figure out how to manage temper, first, you need to understand and accept that anger is a natural emotion. Suppressing or avoiding it will not help. Find a healthy way to disarm or release your anger. Remind yourself that what you are feeling isn’t wrong but acting on it will not do you any good. Accepting your emotions instead of fighting them will help you calm down and focus on dealing with the problem.
3. Be Solution-Oriented
Once you have accepted the problem, it’s time to look for a solution.
While accepting your feelings instead of suppressing them is perhaps the first step towards healing, it is not recommended to keep thinking about what’s making you angry. Playing the scenario in your head, again and again, will only lead to more anger. Once you have accepted the problem, it’s time to look for a solution. If the triggers are reoccurring, it’s better to solve the issues once and for all. This could only be possible when you can get over your emotional state and start looking for solutions.
4. Emotional Support May Help
Have a personal support network at work that you can turn to when you are feeling stressed out or angry. If that’s not an option, you can always turn to your partner, a friend or a loved one you can talk to about these things. When things get hard, these people can help us feel appreciated and valued and keep the negative emotions from taking a toll on us.
5. Celebrate Your Victories
Treat yourself or pamper yourself as a way to reward the efforts you’ve put in to avert an angry outburst.
Every time you manage to control your anger and act rationally is a personal achievement that you should be proud of. Treat yourself or pamper yourself as a way to reward the efforts you’ve put in to avert an angry outburst.
If you have been bogged down with the question ‘how to control my temper at work,’ these easy-to-follow tips mentioned above can help. While it’s not possible to stop how we feel, how we choose to react to the situation is up to us. So, #BeALittleMore mindful about how you choose to respond to difficult scenarios. Frequent bouts of anger at the workplace will not only make your professional life difficult, but it will also affect your personal life as well as mental and physical health. If you are finding it hard to control your emotions, speaking to a therapist or counsellor can help you process your feelings.
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